Shimano bike division continues sharp sales trajectory
The Shimano bike division has registered a 17.2% sales increase in the first half of 2022 when benchmarked against the same period last year, pushing operating income in the segment up by 20.2%.
First half sales reached $1.8 billion (249,203 million Yen), with growth attributed largely to a continued demand for higher-end bicycle goods where supply is still coming up a little short. For the lower-end of the market, Shimano states that supply has now caught up with the demand. On both fronts the demand apparently remains elevated ahead of pre-Covid levels, which can only be seen as a good sign for the long-view on the bicycle market’s growth trajectory.
Shimano wrote on its bike market breakdown that in “the European market, sales of bicycles and bicycle-related products remained firm backed by demand for e-bikes that remained strong. Market inventories of completed bicycles approached appropriate levels as demand in some regions showed signs of cooling down.
“In the North American market, while demand for high-end class completed bicycles remained firm and market inventories remained at a low level, demand for middle-class bicycles showed signs of cooling down. In the Asian and South and Central American markets, strong interest in bicycles cooled off. In the Japanese market, while demand for sport bikes and E-BIKE remained firm, retail sales were sluggish due partly to the inventory shortages of entry-class road bikes.”
This update was the first to eliminate the second quarter financial results of Pearl Izumi, a business division that was sold off to United Sports Brands in May of this year.
In case you missed it, the past month has been a news rich period for the Shimano bike business, with numerous product launches made. These include:
- An all new XT Di2 system with an eBike tilt
- Wireless shifting trickling all the way down to 105 level
- Shimano has introduced a range of updates for the EP8, whilst also launching the all-new mid-level EP600 Drive Unit
- The launch of CUES Di2, which brings premium Di2 shifting technology and long-lasting, smooth shifting Linkglide durability to the top tier of lifestyle eBike drivetrains.
